Saving Up!

It was Hubby's birthday last week but we chose to celebrate all by ourselves. Andreas and I bought a cake, sang Happy Birthday, had a simple home-cooked dinner and finished it off with a cup of coffee drizzled with Bailey's cream. Yes, we chose to consume all that our cupboard has to offer. ((^_^))

We are tightening our belt because we decided to travel next year for our 5th wedding anniversary. Depending on the amount of our savings for travel, we are thinking of a vacation to the Philippines or see the outskirts of England. Friends and relatives would insist Philippines but a vacation back home is doubly expensive than Holiday Lodges in Dorset.

Life in a super city is very stressful so we are planning a beach holiday where our son can fly kites, where  we can enjoy the sand, and still experience something new. Our travel agent advised that in Dorset, we can have a country break, feast on local produce, and  be able to visit the world famous Jurassic Heritage Site. Hubby is always fascinated with the country life. He was even more thrilled at the prospect of seeing Dinosaur foot prints and fossils that he made this county in South West England our second choice for holiday destination.

All we have to do now is work extra hard to save up. Do wish us luck! =)

I Love A Snowy Holiday!

The family had been blessed with travels for the year 2010. Hopefully, it will be the same three years from now. Yes, it took us that long to save up for our holiday in Italy. That every second of our stay in Europe was a glorious moment. Holidays are expensive but there's nothing fantastic about a 'borrowed holiday' so we insist on paying from our savings.

Now that we started to save again, we are narrowing our choices by taking two places from each of our bucket list. Mine is to experience snow and a ski break from Switzerland holidays and to visit New York. Hubby, on the other hand wants to visit Moscow and London.

I will be gathering tourist information from these four places and see which will suit our budget when the time comes. Oh I wish it will come sooner! After visiting Vatican City, among my ultimate dream these days is a snow experience. I just know that will be a magical experience!

Jumeirah Hospitality

Blogging from Meydan!

We checked in yesterday at the world's first 5-star trackside hotel, Jumeirah The Meydan. Oh the lobby was grand and so far, our experience has been really fabulous. Meydan is one of the luxury hotel properties of Jumeirah so part of our Eid Holiday package is complimentary access to more than 2km exclusive Madinat Jumeirah Beach. We spent the whole afternoon there frolicking and hopping from one pool to another lol!

Jumeirah The Meydan Rooftop Pool

We woke up early for breakfast then watched the jockeys and  horses exercise on the track. The sun is still scorching so the boys are having a late morning nap before they hit the rooftop pool. 

As for me, I am trying to finish Yaya's In Bloom, a sequel to the book The Divine Secrets of Yaya Sisterhood. I won't be joining the boys on the pool later. Instead, will try to get a spa appointment and hopefully  experience one of those far infrared saunas that everyone seems to be raving about these days. Oh i hope I can get a booking from the other Jumeirah properties. I inquired yesterday from Al Qasr but they are fully booked with guests from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Gotta go now and try calling for a n appointment at Mina A' Salam  Hotel.

Later peeps!

Venice, The City Of Love

After our Rome rendezvous, we boarded Italy's high speed train called EuroStar to reach the next place for our holiday. The travel time from Roma Termini to Venezia Sta. Lucia is four hours. Glenda, our Italy contact person, booked our train tickets way ahead of schedule so we were able to avail the first class coach for the price of Class B. Train ticket for each person costs 69 Euro (345 AED/ 4,140 PP)

We arrived Venezia Sta. Lucia station around lunch time and boarded a public transport called vaporetto. We made several stops along the way, picking and dropping passengers, that it took a good 45 minutes before we reached the main district of San Marco where our hotel is located. Today, I share with you photos of our first day in the City of Love.

Venice is the only city in the world built entirely on water.

It stands on dozens of islets linked by some 400 bridges. The most famous of them is called Rialto Bridge spanning the Venice Grand Canal.

The romantic and expensive gondola ride. It costs 80 Euro for 40 minutes along the Grand Canal.

The colorful carnival masks for souvenirs.

Moonlighting in Venezia

 "This was Venice, the flattering and suspect beauty this city, half-fairy tale and half-tourist trap." ~ Thomas Mann.

An entry for

Worldless Wednesday

I took the photo while passing by Tiber River on a double-decker bus tour.

The Colosseo

Great to be back blogging again! Thank you to my online visitors who continued to leave messages for the past three weeks. To show further my appreciation, I am taking you with us today for a visit to The Colosseo =)

We landed Fiumicino Airport (also called Aeroporto Leanordo Da Vinci) early morning of April 25. We were met by my province mate, Glenda who has been working in Italy for quiet awhile now. Truth is I was soo nervous before embarking for the holiday. We've never been out of Dubai for the past four years - which makes one complacent - and after reading those tourist advisory on thieves and pickpockets, I was not so sure if we made the right choice of destination). The only thing calming my nerves was that Glenda will be there to guide us.

The passport control area was stringent as expected. But the baggage claim was different at all. Nobody checked if passengers claimed their rightful luggage =). By this time, we noticed that nobody spoke the English language. You ask them for directions, they will reply in Italian. When we finally saw Glenda at the arrival area, we gave up speaking to the airport staff. Glenda confirmed, only 1 in 10 Italian speak the English language =)

Along with other tourists, we boarded a private taxi going to central Rome which is about 30 kms away .Charge: 15 Euro per person. We could have taken the train but hubby was in a hurry to see The Colosseo. Besides, we were on travel with a toddler and a cab was the quickest and most reasonable for us.

After checking in at the charming Hotel Priscilla (thank goodness, the staff knew basic English), we tidied up for a scheduled visit to Borghese Gallery before proceeding to the Roman Coliseum. Enjoy the photos!

Also called the Flavian amphitheater, Italy's iconic structure nevel fails to impress for its elegant, enduring bulk, and its disturbing former function as a theater of slaughter.

Inside as well, you will see displays of reconstructed Gladiator armors.


The famous Arch Of Constatine. It is located between the Colosseo and Palatine Hill. The masive arch was erected to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius.

Daddy and Andreas goofing around with Gladiators outside.

The Roman Forum as seen from the Colosseo. While it is not one of the best preserved archaeological site of Ancient Rome, The Forum was the nerve center of the most powerful Western civilization in history for a thousand years. This is where political decisions were made, speeches delivered, and markets took place.

Our 4th Wedding Anniversary at the Eternal City.

Visiting The Colosseo, Palatine Hill, and The Roman Forum costs 11 Euro per person. You can also get a Roman Archaeological Card which is good for three days if you are staying longer in Rome.

An entry for

Customer Service Talk

A month from today and we will be off for a family holiday to Italy. We received our electronic tickets and hotel vouchers last week, thank you to our very efficient Travel Agent, Miss Khan of Belhasa Global Tourism and Travel.

This is our first travel abroad and the first time I ever dealt with travel agents and visa blah blah. I posted before that we should be choosing reputable travel agencies to provide help on visa application. Well, i'm glad that I did not disclosed then that we were then dealing with Al Tayer Travel because we were let down.

We paid 750 AED for the airplane and hotel booking. The amount is unrefundable if the visa is denied or in case we will not proceed with the travel.We booked with Al Tayer last week of January. They gave us a quotation of 10,000 AED for two nights in Rome and two nights in Venice via Austrian Airways with accommodation under the Rome Roullette system. 

It took us a month to get our visa approved - three weeks was spent gathering the attachment. In the middle of February, the Travel Agent I (TAI) called to ask how was our visa application. I informed him that we were still waiting for our bank statement from HSBC which was not the easiest to avail. TAI said, "Don't just sit there and wait. You have to follow up and get your visa approved or the quotation we gave you will increase."

Patience, i said to myself. The same agent also informed me the first time i inquired from Al Tayer that a budget of 10,000 AED to Italy will not be possible. That we might as well find another country to go on a holiday. But I was desperate then to get a plane and hotel booking to support our visa application so i put up with him.

Fortunately, Travel Agent Sheldon came to my rescue and said 10,000 AED is possible for a 5-day holiday to Italy. So that is how we started doing business with them.

Finally, when we got our visa approved first week of March, i immediately called Al Tayer but TAI was on a day-off. I emailed him informing the approval and that we wish to add one more day for our stay in Venice Most importantly, we were ready to pay the whole package in cash. TAI replied that he will be in-touch as soon as he gets the whole package cost.

The whole week passed and I did not hear from TAI. I called him once and he said there were no issues (his bloody favorite word). I was made to understand, the request on Venice was okay. I called on Thursday and spoke to TA Sheldon who apparently cannot access the system of TAI. I was made to call back again on Saturday. My patience was running out.

I finally received an e-mail from TAI on Sunday informing me that the whole travel package now costs 11,500 AED and that they cannot add one more day to Venice because there was no hotel available. Fed up and fuming, I started ringing other travel agencies. They all asked me to e-mail the details which was next to impossible because I was shaking in anger.

It was really late when i came to ring Belhasa Global. The kind lady on the other line patiently wrote down the passenger details. She even gave me options on airlines and we closed the deal on 9,960 AED - 3 nights in Rome, 2 nights in Venice, and 2 nights in Milan via Qatar Airways. I had no idea the airline flies there as well.

I was tap dancing when i got off the phone. Milan!! I am going to visit the fashion capital of the world!! Absolutely unbelievable.

In two days time, the Belhasa messenger came to deliver the documents and collect our payment. That easy.

There is a reason for everything. Perhaps the good Lord wants us to see The Last Supper (which tickets are already confirmed, thank you to Glenda) You have to book two months in advance to view since the launching of Dan Brown's book.

As for Al Tayer, they agreed to refund 350AED from the 750AED payment.

Dreamland Aqua Park

So our holiday continues at Umm Al Quwain Dreamland Aqua Park. Entrance is AED100 per adult. Kids under 4 years of age are free. Entry of foods and beverage are not allowed. But there were lots of restaurants to choose from including an international buffet.

The rides were fantastic and really pumps your adrenaline. A must-ride are the mighty-go-round, black hole, and twisting dragons.

Here are some of the family pics.

weekend snapshot # 21

We spent our long weekend on a family safari in Al Ain. The 50-hectare zoo accommodates 600 animals in an environment closest to their natural habitat. I share with you some of my snapshots.

A blessed Sunday to my visitors! Thank you for your time. Take care and have a great week ahead!